24 The Challenge (1/2)
Ochieng' had never fought a fellow human before. His eyes were gleaming excitedly. He was anticipating the 'amen'. His blood started boiling unnecessarily and cold sweat started sudatingfrom his forehead. He was even trembling a little. The onlookers thought he was afraid and started laughing mockingly.
His opponent extended his hand to greet him and introduced himself, ”I am Onunga Rakuom.”
”I am Ochieng' Lwanda.” Ochieng' replied back respectfully.
”Oh! You have a nice name. I warn you to be careful because I am a very strong man when it comes to 'amen'.” Rakuom warned.
His warning got the approval of most of the people present. This made Rakuom elated. Ochieng' on the other hand laughed softly and kept quiet. He knew his actions were going to speak louder. The crowd had already created space for them and their eyes were nitidwith anticipation. They wanted to see the strength of this man that was highly regarded by the great seer of the south.
Rakuom made his move first. He ferociously charged at Ochieng' with his teeth gritted tightly and his red eyes widely open. Behind him clouds of dust were rising ragingly. It was clear to everyone that he went all out from this move. Ochieng', on seeing Rakuom coming, his look became serious. He stood firmly on the ground not to fall if Onunga hit him.
'Amen' is a type of fight that involves two people. During the fight, each party's aim is to make sure that the opponent's back touches the ground. The one whose back touches the ground first becomes the loser. Traditionally, it was a type of sport that brought people from different communities together. It was also used to resolve conflicts between two individuals.
When someone was constantly intimidating the other, they were made to duel and the loser had to respect the winner whether the winner was older or not. 'Amen' was also used to solve disputes such as the one that Ochieng' was currently in.
Rakuom wanted to make Ochieng's back lie on the ground in one move. If he could win, it could be an easy fight as no one would know who's stronger between the two of them.
Just when people thought that Ochieng'would lose, he made his move, when Rakuom was around twelve inches close to him. He clouted Rakuom's left cheek. The fellow wassent flying with his teeth following him several metres away before he landed on Ndori's eldest son's hut. The hut straight off collapsedburying Rakuom.
Silence!
The scene became completely silent. Nobody including Ndori and his sons expected things to turn out that way. The way they looked at Ochieng' even changed. It was as if they were seeing a ghost.
In Nyangini's hut,
”That he is a 'Mogwedhi', what's that?” Nyangini asked bewilderedly.
”Yes, that...”
BOOM!
Nyangini and Apeleka were in a heated discussion when they heard a rumble. They rushed out to see what was happening only to find Nyangini's eldest son's hut in ruin and a certain figure was struggling its way out of it. They unconsciously turned their heads to look at each other only to see the shock in each other's eyes.